Bitter Sweet
by Animecookie13
Summary: For as long as Rangiku could remember, he had always been at her side - the strange boy with silver hair and turquoise eyes that liked dried persimmons.


A/N: Ahh, and so the legendary author, known for her lateness, strikes again! I wrote this little one-shot on the 2.5-3 hour car drive to where I shall be staying. So enjoy some GinRan feels (I hope that I write them well!). I might make more one-shots like this, so tell me if you want more.

Bitter Sweet

When Rangiku had met Ichimaru Gin, at first she thought that the boy at that time was a weirdo. Who cared for other people at the times they were living through, who looked out for others and went out of their way for others in the dog-eat-dog world? Who took a young girl under their wings, who shared their food with her? And who in their right mind liked dried persimmons?

Then they had made their way to the Rukongai, and still Ichimaru Gin stayed with the little street rat he had found in the desert. Because that was what she was; a young girl who stole bread that was stale and tasteless, but still better than nothing. And occasionally, she stole a dried persimmons for the boy, now teen, who had saved her life in that desert.

When they had both passed the test to join the seireitei, he stayed with her, no longer with her all day everyday, but still as much as possible. And so he changed from the weirdo kid in the desert who saved her to the young man who was ever faithful and loyal who had saved her. When others ignored her because of her appearance or skills, he ate with her. When they teased her for her lack of skill in a particular field, he trained with her, and even though he was obviously more skilled than she, he stayed.

After only one year, Gin graduated from the academy, and he went to the 5th division, while she stayed at the academy. When she was accepted into the 10th division, they spent less time together, but never did their friendship waiver. And slowly, people began to accept the street rat turned shinigami, and later a vice-captain. She built more bridges, more time was spent with other people in her own division, and she grew less dependant on her best friend and saviour, Ichimaru Gin.

And so when he kissed her for the first time, after he had been announced the captain of the 3rd division, she had taken a leap of faith, trusting the man from the dessert once again; because that was what they were now, a man and a woman. She gave him entire heart, and never once had she regretted that.

She trusted him entirely, and slowly she grew the tiniest bit distant from the rest of her division, and even her captain, first Shiba-taichou, and later Tōshiro. Burning bridges that held her up, she gave herself to him, trusting his.

And then Aizen had happened, and Ichimaru Gin had left and become a traitor, still she didn't regret the time that she had spent with him. She returned whole-heartedly to her work (which was really drinking with Izuru-kun, and Hisagi-san, and skipping off her paperwork). She turned to her good friends, Rukia and Orihime, and over time, talking with over the betrayal they - no, she had felt (but never regret), and slowly even that dulled to a small pain.

But the last time she had seen him, when he had been fatally wounded by Aizen, that pain had been greater than any betrayal she could have experienced. Even fibre of her being mourned the soon-to-be loss of the man who had first been the child-saviour, then the teenager who had stuck with her through thick and thin, and then the man who had held her heart in his hand. She held his bleeding form to her chest, and cried with all her strength. And when he had opened his eyes, and she saw his oh-so-beautiful turquoise eyes, she had cried even harder. But when he had said to her "I'm glad I got to say sorry to you, Ran-chan. Lov 'ya", that had been when she had truly lost it and begged, pleaded, **screamed**, for him to open his beautiful eyes one more time, to lie through his teeth to her (even though she could always tell the lies from the truths), to do **anything**, anything but close his eyes for eternity. But of course, her pleas never reached his ears.

And so today, when Rangiku returned to her vice-captain rooms, and had slumped onto her bed, flinging her arms out to the sides, she started when her hand connected with something solid. Looking up, she to finddried persimmons on her bed-side table. She sat up, looking around her apartment for signs of anyone entering other than herself. No one. She reached for the bitter fruit, but when she bit it, she only tasted sweetness.

A/N: This couple kills me! Hope you enjoyed. Kind of an unplanned one-shot (by which I mean it came totally out of NOWHERE!).

Tell me if you wish for more.

Love

Anime-chan!


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